Red tape nightmare

So, venue – check. Date – check. Church – check. And there I was giving myself a big pat on the back for being so organised. Then one question from my friend Suze suddenly had me in a blind panic.

“So, have you sorted out, or looked into sorting out the paperwork yet?” she asked me.

Er, not exactly. Not at all, in fact. She only inquired because she was originally planning on getting married in Spain, but after doing some investigation realised it would be a lot easier and cheaper to get hitched in England. She wanted to warn me.

Well a ceremony in the UK is not an option for me, not at this stage in the game. We’re already too far down the planning line now to change countries! So I’m just going to have to dive right in to figuring out what paperwork I need. But really, I have a headache already after just dipping my toe in.

I love living in Spain, I really do. But what I hate is the endless lists of forms and official documents you have to fill out just to have the right to exist. If you’re missing just one then the whole thing comes crashing down around your head like a red tape nightmare.

A quick look at the Madrid British Embassy’s website confirmed my suspicions – this is going to be a total nightmare.

Of the seven documents that I will most probably have to show in order to legally marry my beloved, I have not one. Not even my birth certificate will be good, as I need to get it re issued, “legalised” (basically send off to the legalisation office where it is magically made legal during a mysterious process lasting four to six weeks) and translated.

I also need to swear an oath that I’m single and free to marry, have that made into a certificate, and in order to get that there a further list of about six documents I need to provide.

And of course all this costs money and will probably involve lots of waiting around, if past experiences are anything to go by. I had to wait in a queue for six hours to get my identity card three years ago. Still not quite recovered from that experience.

No one talks about this stuff. They talk about how tricky it is to finalise your guestlist, or the trials and tribulations of finding the perfect dress or venue. But nothing about the paperwork. Maybe it’s because it’s the most boring aspect of getting married. Or maybe it’s because it’s not that complicated if you’re a British person getting hitched in Britain.

One thing’s for sure, I’m going to make sure I do it right. Imagine going through the whole thing then finding your wedding had no legal status. That would be a disaster.

As Suze said, it’s best to get the boring crap out of the way now, then I can get on with the fun stuff.

5 comments

hi katherine, i just had to leave a comment about your blog entries, this is EXACTLY what I have been going through as well down to the last detail! Glad to know im not the only one fighting the red tape to try and get married here! Good luck! xo

Suze – Oh yes, blind drunk would be a lot more preferable! Don’t worry, I’m glad you brought it up, it’s given me a kick up the behind! x
Sharon – wow, glad to know I’m not alone. Where and when are you getting hitched? It’s so stressful isn’t it? Good luck with everything! x

We are getting married “por el civil” so if the registro civil de mostoles behaves itself and does the paperwork on time (you would think 5 months notice would be more than sufficient, but then again we are talking about spanish funcionarios!!)our wedding will be 11th June in Rafael Hotel Madrid Norte Alcobendas!
Also my suegra nearly dropped when she heard we were thinking of having less than 100 people!
The paperwork is definitely the worst(and flipping expensive!) part, so far its really the only thing that has been stressful!
good luck! xoxo
ps. have you had THE moment when trying on dresses yet?!

Hi Sharon,
Fingers crossed for you that everything runs smoothly with the dreaded paperwork. I googled your hotel and it looks very swish indeed. Congratulations, sure it will be a lovely day.
I have had THE moment. All very exciting – have a look at my most recent post if you haven’t already… x

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About

Name: Katherine Robinson
Age: 30, just.
Job: hellomagazine.com senior writer
When I met my boyfriend, J, seven years ago in a club in London, I had no idea he was 'The One'. He was an exotic-looking barman and I was a newly-qualified journalist determined to make my way up the career ladder. I couldn't speak Spanish (not even "hola") and I was sure that after swapping Durham for London I'd found the city where I would put down roots. How wrong I was. We split six months later when J returned to Spain, but I never forgot him. And a few years later we met up again, by chance, in the club where we first laid eyes on each other. We decided then to give it another go and five years later I find myself living in Madrid and engaged. I feel a mixture of trepidation and excitement about the prospect of planning a bi-cultural wedding using my second language, but at least there's less chance of rain on the big day!